Sport Shorts: June 12

Greendale's Brad Guendel competes in his WIAA Division 1 Individual Boys State Tournament match in Nielsen Tennis Stadium on June 5. Guendel and partner Matt Bemis won two of three matches. Photo By Peter Zuzga

OAK CREEK BOYS GOLF

Kaylor Steger shot an 18-hole four-under par score of 68 to take the first round lead in the WIAA State Tournament at University Rodge in Verona on June 9.

Steger, who was sixth in the state tournament in 2013, concluded the tournament on Tuesday, June 10 (see next week's SouthNOW for full details). Steger held a one-shot lead over Bennett Hutson of Onalaska and Dylan Patscot of Kettle Moraine going into the June 10 second round.

He would be Oak Creek's first state golf champion if he were successful.

Steger advanced to state out of WIAA sectional action held last week at Brighton Dale Links in Kansasville. He did not have a strong day there, but still advanced to state by taking third with an 18-hole score of 78.

He led the Southeast Conference champion Knights to a a tie for sixth there with a 343 score as Racine Case (319) and Kenosha Tremper (325) earned the state team berths.

"As a team, we definitely did not play our best golf when it counted most," said coach Craig Thome. "However, I am extremely proud of how my young men dealt with both disappointment and success. I always preach staying composed and not letting a poor shot or hole affect the rest of the round (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't)."

Thome said Steger played his worst nine holes going out (42) but then bounced back with a 36 on the back nine to earn a repeat trip to state. Thome believes he is the first Knight golfer to advance to state in consecutive years.

OAK CREEK BOYS TRACK

The Knights erred on the side of caution and withdrew sophomore sprint ace Caleb Ogden from the 400 meters at last weekend's WIAA State Track meet in La Crosse.

Ogden, an almost certain state placewinner in the 200 and 400 dashes heading into the May 30 sectional competition, won the 400 at sectional but then suffered a leg injury and had to pull up in the 200. His absence also hurt the Knights' chances of advancing their 4x400 relay.

Coach Rick Stack said they were going to work with Ogden this past week to see if he could give the 400 a try but noted that if there was any question about his health, they would pull him from the race, which is what they did.

Stack noted the previous week that Ogden will be a very motivated athlete next season.

Other entries at state included senior Austin Zajkowski in the 3200, who finished 19th of 24 with a clocking of 9:50.41 and senior shot putter Peter Mitchell, who failed to record a distance.

It was an otherwise excellent season for the Southeast Conference champion Knights, who aside from Zajkowski and Mitchell, were very young across the board. Other seniors of note included Donovan Brown, Thomas Kroon and Robert Campos.

WHITNALL BOYS TRACK

Senior Nathan Schaefer just missed a top-eight spot in the 400-meter dash at the WIAA Division 1 Meet last weekend in La Crosse.

Schaefer finished ninth with 50.91 seconds, which was 0.51 seconds out of eighth place and a scoring position.

Teammate Paul Howard, another senior, came in 15th in the preliminaries at 50.37 seconds and did not advance to the final.

The Falcons thus did not score any points in the meet, which was won by Kimberly with 57 points.

GREENDALE GIRLS TRACK

Junior Abby Jankowski captured 16th place in the discus with a toss of 105 feet 10 inches at the WIAA Division 1 State Meet on June 6 at La Crosse.

"We had a very good year," said head coach Chris Servais. "We changed our training approach this season and were getting our best times at the end of the season. We only graduate four seniors from the team, and we are excited about the incoming freshman class."

GREENDALE BOYS TENNIS

The doubles team of senior Brad Guendel and junior Matt Bemis posted a 2-1 mark in the WIAA Division 1 State Individual Meet last weekend in Madison.

Guendel and Bemis, who finished the season at 19-4, opened with a 4-6, 6-3, (7-3) triumph over Sam Duchow and Jack Schute of Hudson (17-5) on June 5.

The Greendale duo then dropped Noah Bloedorn and Kurtis Larson of Kenosha Indian Trail 6-0, 6-2 on June 6. The Indian Trail team wound up 10-4.

Guendel and Bemis fell to fifth seed Peter Rentzepis and Matt Lindsay of Eau Claire Memorial (26-4) by a 6-2, 6-2 count in the quarterfinals.

The Panthers enjoyed a fine 2014 season, winning both the Woodland Conference dual-meet and tournament championships.

GREENDALE BOYS GOLF

Senior Alex Rendon fired an 80 for sixth place in a WIAA Division 1 sectional meet June 4 at Brightondale Links to qualify for this week's state meet at University Ridge.

He shot a first-round 76 on June 9 to tie for 16th place after the first round at state. The tournament concluded on June 10 (after press time for this edition).

Greendale carded 332 strokes as a team in the sectional, trailing state team qualifiers Racine Case (319) and Kenosha Tremper (325).

Nate Thomson recorded 82 for a share of 10th place, while Ben Briselden had an 84 for a share of 15th, Peter Jodarski 86 for a share of 22nd and Aaron Pawlinski 93 for a piece of 42nd place.

WHITNALL GIRLS SOCCER

The season ended for the Falcons with a 4-0 loss to Pius XI in a WIAA Division 2 regional game on June 5.

"We fell behind 3-0 in the first half and then played better, but it was too late," said head coach Robert Antholine. "It was the same problem of not being able to score."

Backup goalkeeper Zora Marinkovich played well, making six saves to keep her team in the game.

Whitnall finished 8-8-2 overall and 4-5-2 in the Woodland Conference.

"None of that is too bad, considering the injuries we had this year," said Antholine, whose team lost top goaltender Ann Marie Bay and a number of other key players to injuries and struggled to maintain consistency as a result.

FRANKLIN BOYS TENNIS

The repeat Southeast Conference champions had many awards to give out after another stellar season.

Jack Gumina was named most valuable, while Mitch Adam was the most improved. The sportsmanship award went to Ryan Larson, while the athletic director's award went to Eric Vonderwell. Gumina was also the team's scholar/athlete and captain, and the athletic council representative was Larson.

The team finished with a 7-0 dual meet record in league play (41-8 in individual matches) and was 5-3 in nonconference duals. They also won the Beaver Dam Invitational. Senior letterwinners included Gumina, Adam, Larson, Paul Rasmussen, Brandon Klein, Ben Alt and Chili Trejo.

"The team had a great year," said coach Gail Champion. "We were proud of how well they played each and every time out. Our team had good unity and chemistry. I think they had a lot of fun this year. Our seniors set a good example to the underclassmen. They will be sorely missed. Our underclassmen will work hard in the off season to challenge for those open spots left behind.

Assistant coaches were John Brandes and Scott Kossoris.

WHITNALL BASEBALL

After two easy victories over St. Francis, the Falcons had some trouble with Pius XI last week.

They blanked the Mariners 14-0 on June 3 and 10-0 on June 2. Leading the attack in the first game were junior Matthew Singer with two hits and two RBIs and senior Tyler Regeth with two RBIs. Senior Peter Moore and junior Austin Jenk drove in runs, and senior David Gaertner had two hits.

In the second game, senior Jon Drew and senior Josh Daniels each had two hits and two RBIs, while junior James Menden brought in two runs, and senior Josh Stark and junior Noah Stemper each collected two hits.

Regeth pitched the shutout on June 3, and Drew blanked the Mariners on June 2.

The Falcons (4-4 going into this week) fell to Pius 10-4 on June 5 despite a 4-for-4 effort from Regeth.

FRANKLIN BOYS TRACK

Sophomore Tri Pham failed to record a height in the D1 high jump so the Sabers' season ended on a quiet note in the WIAA State Meet in La Crosse last weekend.

Pham was the Sabers' only state qualifier this season. A senior of note on the team was Cal Wrobel.

GREENDALE GIRLS SOCCER

Mallory Shimek tallied a goal in the 77th minute, and goaltender Adrianna Bratel made 17 saves as the Panthers tipped Union Grove 1-0 in a WIAA Division 2 regional game June 5 at Greendale.

"We were fortunate to win with Mallory's great shot from the outside," said head coach George Knezic. "Our team did not gain momentum until we started challenging their midfield and defense in the second half. Plus, as usual, Bratel made some incredible saves."

The Panthers, though, fell to New Berlin Eisenhower 6-0 on June 7 in a regional championship contest.

The Lions scored just 40 seconds into the game; then an Eisenhower forward came in on Bratel in a one-on-one situation with the ball in the air and accidentally kneed her below the rib cage.

Bratel was carried off the field and was out for the remainder of the game. Nicole Miller filled in at goalkeeper and did well, according to Knezic.

The Panthers finished the season at 8-13-2.

FRANKLIN BOYS GOLF

The Sabers' season came to a quiet end with an eighth place finish in the WIAA sectional meet at Brighton Dale Links last week.

Franklin turned in a score of 346 as Racine Case (319) and Kenosha Tremper (325) earned the state team berths.

Junior Sean Luangsprueth led the way for the Sabers with an 18-hole score of 85. He was four shots off an individual state berth. Other players for the Sabers included sophomore Mitchell Ott (86), senior Ryan Ruffing (87), sophomore Andrew Niemic (88) and senior Cody Scherr (98).

FRANKLIN GIRLS SOCCER

The Sabers ended their season with a split in WIAA tourney action.

They beat Kenosha Indian Trail, 2-1, in a regional semifinal on June 5 but then fell to sectional top seed Racine Horlick, 5-0, in the regional final on June 7.

The split closed the season for Franklin with a 10-8 record. In the win over Indian Trail, Jen Wiza and Rachael Stein (assist Jada Falzon) had the goals as Jessie Bykowski made 12 saves.

Seniors for the young Sabers included Jackie Glasenapp, Stein and Bykowski.

OAK CREEK GIRLS SOCCER

The Knights' season came to a quiet end with a 6-0 WIAA regional semifinal loss to Kenosha Tremper on June 5.

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